1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to volume, optical-storage disks and more particularly relates to locating and fast-searching units of digital information in volume, optical-storage disks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical storage disks are cheap, portable, and capable of storing large amounts of data. Overtime, developers have been able to encode more and more information on the surface of optical storage disks by focusing the lasers that read them to an ever narrower point, as demonstrated by the progression from Compact Disks, to DVDs, to HD-DVDs and BLU-RAY® disks. Physical limits on the ability of lasers to undergo further focusing, however, will prevent large increases in the amount of data that can be encoded on the surface of optical disks.
Nevertheless, current DVD technology is able to encode enough information to store video and provides a high level of performance in locating video data. Video is stored as picture image frames, with about 30 frames for each second of video. Typically, image frames come in groups of about 15. Often each group includes an anchor frame that contains a complete image and about 14 frames that only provide information about changes to the original anchor frame. Since change frames only provide information about changes to an anchor frame, they cannot be viewed independent of the anchor frames.
Anchor frames stored on the surface of a rotating DVD, can be accessed quickly. These anchor frames provide a descriptive context for the information provided in each associated change frame. Anchor frames, therefore, provide a directory of video information that can quickly be reviewed to locate video data quickly.
Performance in locating data will become an issue for new technologies that will sidestep the storage limitations imposed on optical-storage disks by the physical limits on the ability of lasers to undergo further focusing. Such technologies will allow for the encoding of data in the volume of optical disks, not just on their surfaces. These types of technologies will allow optical disks to store terabytes of information, as opposed to the few tens of gigabytes that the most advanced HD-DVDs and BLU-RAY® disks are currently capable of storing. As appreciated, the ability to encode and store such vast amounts of data, makes performance in locating units of digital information an important issue.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus, system, and method for improving the performance, in terms of data location, of volume, optical disks that are able to store tremendous amounts of data in their volume. Preferably, the apparatus, system, and method would provide a directory that can quickly be reviewed to provide contextual information used to describe or define groups of units of digital information, similar to the anchor frames currently employed with DVDs.